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Re-post of earlier advice.
Don't forget to subscribe to and run checks with Carfax and Exprerian. They are usually up to speed on cars which have been economically totaled and subsequently rebuilt and resold. They are pretty good on recalls and maintenance records on other makes, but not so much so on Alfas because there is no longer a dealership network and most maintenence is done by owners or independant shops, neither of which does much reporting to these data bases. You can get away with not reporting maintenance (and the associated recorded milage), but you can't get around the title registration process. Likewise, recall information is pretty much non existant as reported to these data bases.
If the car has a 'Salvage' or Salvage Rebuilt" title then it has been damaged in the past and the insurance company has paid off on the car and sold it for salvage. This does not mean that the car was necessarily severly damaged, but insurance companies have funny ideas about economic totals. Since there is no dealer supply of repair parts to draw from, the insurance companies would have to rely on a hunt and peck search for usable used parts. This kind of love effort is beyond most insurance companies, so they opt for the totaled approach. But once a car has a salvage rebuilt it cannot elasily be warshed back to an original clean title. You can buy good Alfas with salvage rebuilt titles, but they usually don't bring as high a price as a car with the clean original title, now when you buy, or later if you sell.
All this being said, you can also buy cars with clean titles which have been hit and repaired to varing degrees but which repairs escaped the data bases. A good magnet check on the rockers, over the rear wheel arches, and along the bottoms of all fenders in line with the rocker panels is always recommended. Also the nose behind the front bumper.
A good non rust car with a clean title and verified correct milage history is always preferred. A stack of old mantenance receipts is a real plus.
Good Luck vf31rhill 88 Spider Veloce in Memphis, TN
BTW, my insurance company refused at first to insure my Alfa, until I told them I did not want collision, just liability and comprehensive. Then it was all smiles and welcome aboard. For the reason they will not write collision, see paragraph #2 above. This is Nationwide, FYI. I am sure you can always find someone to write collision on an Alfa, but to me it was not worth it and I will just take my chances on having no collision coverage.
Listen to what ever all your replies say. They will mostly be right on target, based on my previous experience with the BB users. Very knowledgable group in my opinion.
Go for it, but do your homework first. vf31rhill
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